ALL but two public toilets in Clevedon are set to close at the end of March.

As part of budget cuts by North Somerset Council, the authority will close all the lavatory facilities it owns across the district, including five in Clevedon.

The town council is now set to take on a 100-year lease for those in Station Road and The Chalet in Elton Road to ensure two public toilets remain open.

At a meeting of its finance and general policy committee on February 13, councillors agreed the move, which now needs to be ratified at a full council meeting on March 20.

If agreed, the town council will then make an application for money from the Community Infrastructure Fund, which is administered by North Somerset Council, to pay for repairs and redecoration of the facilities.

Following that, a concessionaire will take on the responsibility of cleaning, maintaining and running the lavatories. This will also mean that machines will be installed to charge the public for using the facilities.

Toilet facilities in Hallam Road, Pier Copse and Alexandra Road will be closed.

* In Portishead, senior citizens are fighting to keep the public toilets in their town open.

North Somerset Council wants to relinquish responsibility for running the toilets at the Lake Grounds and Wyndham Way car park by April 1.

Members of the Portishead Senior Citizens Forum have already filed a petition against the closure and say it will result in Portishead becoming a third world town.

Town councillors now want to meet with council leader Nigel Ashton to discuss a way forward to ensure both conveniences remain open.

One proposal is to engage a concessionaire to operate the toilets which would see the installation of a pay to use system.

Both toilets, however, are in a state of disrepair and require improvement and maintenance.

The town council says it will ask for the meeting with Cllr Ashton to be held as a matter of urgency in hope of avoiding any closures.